Life
by Ryan Griffin
Summary: What happened after the last strip? A different view on Calvin's future. Now added, Chapter 2 - Lost Souls. An unexpected sequel.
1. Life 1: Death

Life…   
What is life?   
Is it merely being, eating, walking, breathing?   
Or is it subtle?   
Can Life be found elsewhere?   
And how can it form?   
And…   
If one doesn't know how life is given…   
How can it be taken away? 

"Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn't it wonderful?" a small boy said, to his closest friend, who to many was a stuffed animal, but to him was a real tiger.   
"Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new!" the other replied.   
Snow had fallen, covering the world in white powder. The larger of the two carried a sled. They were going tobogganing, like they always did on these snow fallen days.   
"A New Year…a fresh clean start!"   
"It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on!"   
"A day full of possibilities!"   
The two got on the sled, preparing to go down.   
"It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy…" The boy said to his friend, "Let's go exploring!"   
With that, the two friends zipped off into the snow-covered land.   
The next day, January 2, 1996, was Calvin's seventh birthday. Calvin didn't have a big party, for he only had one friend, Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes had known one another for the past year.   
Many people said it was unhealthy for a boy his age to spend all his time with a stuffed toy, that he should make real friends.   
But, to Calvin, Hobbes was more real than anyone else he knew.   
Somewhere deep in Calvin's overactive imagination, he made Hobbes into what he wanted Hobbes to be. A friend, a confidante, something he could not get from other kids.   
Calvin's imagination breathed life into Hobbes.   
After his seventh birthday, Calvin didn't have much more time to spend with Hobbes. After a year of complaints from Calvin's teacher and principal and Mrs. Derkins, Calvin's parents finally decided that their son should spend more time with other kids. Calvin was signed up for activities and group centers and play-dates, and Calvin was no longer able to have his adventures with Hobbes.   
After months of perpetual boredom, Calvin realized that there was no way out, and he had to make the best of it. He started participating and making friends. Some of them were really good friends. But, every time he introduced them to Hobbes, he was either laughed at, called a sissy, told that seven-year-olds were to big to play with stuffed animals.   
The very worst however, were the ones that patronized him, pretending that yes, Hobbes was a real tiger. He knew they were just trying to be friendly. But it hurt.   
To him, Hobbes was real, but only to him. And, when people you know take a side, and everyone else takes the same side, You tend to believe them.   
The night before his ninth birthday, Calvin talked to Hobbes, "Hobbes?"   
"Yes?" the tiger said.   
"Why doesn't anyone think you're real?" he asked his friend.   
"But I am real. Anyone can see me and touch me."   
"But they don't see you. Not really. And they can't hear you. To them, you're nothing but a stuffed animal. To them you're not alive."   
"But I am. You can see me for what I am. To you, I am alive. That makes me real."   
"No, it doesn't. They all say I'm crazy. They say you can't be alive. Maybe I shouldn't see you. Maybe there's something wrong with me."   
"No, Calvin, There's nothing wrong with you. You are what keeps me alive. I am here to help you and you are what keeps me here. If you don't want me here, I won't be here."   
"I should have seen it before. There is something wrong with me. You're not real."   
"Calvin…"   
"Stop talking. Go away. You're not real. You're not real."   
"We'll talk about this in the morning," with that Hobbes went to sleep.   
The next morning, the two did not talk. For when Calvin woke up, Hobbes was no longer his furry friend, but a worn stuffed tiger.   
************************************************************************   
After that, Calvin was doing great. His hyperactivity died down, He started paying more attention in school, joined sports teams, became popular with the girls, etc. By the time high school started, he was at the head of his classes, student body president, voted most popular, the whole shebang. His parents were happy, his teachers were happy, everyone was happy.   
Except Calvin.   
He had all but forgotten the sixth year of his life, and what little he did remember was dismissed as a dream, or as playful childhood imagination.   
He always felt there was something missing, a hole in his soul. A large gaping hole present ever since his ninth birthday, when he stuffed his best friend in a cardboard box and left him in the attic.   
************************************************************************   
Calvin grew older, as everyone is wont to due. He graduated from college, held a steady career, married Susie Derkins, his high school sweetheart, and moved to another state. One day, he visited his parent's home, helping them clean out the attic. His parents were moving. The house would be demolished.   
They moved out all of the boxes except one. Calvin went over to it. On it, he read a note, and he recognized his nine year old handwriting.   
It read:   
_ Dont open this box. Inside it is a destructiv monster. If you open it, it will destroy you with its mandables of death. If you are moving, leave it here. This s a strict warning._   
_ Calvin_   
Calvin let out a laugh at the misspelled note. _Boy_, he thought, _I sure had an imagination when I was a kid. "Mandibles of death." Probably just some box of old junk…_   
He opened the box, and saw a flash of orange and black.   
He instinctively shut the box.   
However, he couldn't leave it to be destroyed with the rest of the house.   
He took the box, put it in the trunk of his car, and left the house of his childhood, with the only thing that could ever draw him back.   
************************************************************************   
That night, Calvin had a restless sleep. He kept dreaming.   
He dreamt of snowmen. He dreamt of sleds and wagons. He dreamt that he sold Earth to aliens in exchange for 50 leaves. He dreamt he built a time machine from a cardboard box, and a duplicator and transmogrifier too. He dreamt of pasting his future wife with countless snowballs. He dreamt of treehouse clubs. He dreamt of spaceships and other worlds and a man by the name of "Spaceman Spiff."   
But most of all, he saw a six year old boy, and a tiger. The boy was short, hyperactive, getting in trouble countless times.   
The tiger was taller than he was. He was long, fuzzy, and was a wise old sage. He didn't really understand the ways of humans, and always put his two cents into any conversation.   
He kept hearing voices:   
_Oh, no. I'm not getting in that machine._   
_ Do you happen to have any tuna fish on you?_   
_ Don't worry, humans contain some good protein._   
_ The problem with the future is that it keeps becoming the present._   
_ If our naked pink butts showed, we'd wear clothes._   
_ Instinct. Tigers are born with it._   
_ This cereal is like eating a bowl of Milk Duds._   
_ I'll always be your friend._   
_ Always your friend_   
_ Always…_   
Calvin woke in a cold sweat. For he wasn't dreaming. He was remembering.   
************************************************************************   
Calvin went over to the box he brought from home. He opened it. Pulled out the contents.   
The stuffed tiger was nothing special. Very plain. It was worn from the years he spent cooped up in that box.   
The tears came. Calvin wiped them off. "Why?" he asked, "why did I leave you behind? Why didn't I keep you around? Why did you die?"   
"Because you killed me."   
Calvin jerked his head up. Hobbes was standing right in front of him.   
"Hobbes!" Calvin cried. He rushed over to hug him.   
They embraced. After they separated, Calvin asked, "What do you mean? How did I kill you?"   
"You stopped believing," Hobbes said, "I was alive as long as you needed me alive. As long as you wanted me there, as long as you believed, I was there. You stopped believing because you believed it was wrong to. So I died."   
"But, why are you back?" Calvin said, "I don't understand."   
"You still need me. You began believing again. And I am back. But not for long."   
"Why not? You're back, Hobbes! Why can't you be with me?"   
"You will see."   
After that, the two friends started talking. They talked until the morning came.   
************************************************************************   
It was six years later, and Calvin felt alive again. He quit his job, feeling it stifled him, and settled down and became a cartoonist, telling his adventures under the pen name "Bill Watterson." One day, his son Tyler came home from school with a black eye and a bloody lip.   
Calvin healed his son, then sat down with his son on his bed and asked him what happened.   
"Some big mean bully punched me because I wanted to go on the slide. He said it was his and no one else could have it."   
"Well, next time, ignore him. Go play with your friends."   
Tyler sniffled, "I don't have any friends," He sobbed.   
Calvin took this in, brightened, then said, "I know someone who will be your friend. Wait right here."   
When Calvin came back into the room, he brought Hobbes with him.   
"His name is Hobbes," Calvin said, "He was my best friend when I was your age. Now he's your friend."   
Tyler took the tiger and hugged him. "He's fuzzy," Tyler said.   
Hobbes gave Calvin a wink as he left the room.   
"Hey, Tyler," Hobbes said as Calvin walked down the halls, "I know a really fun game we can play. It's called Calvinball, and it's really fun, let's go outside!"   
Calvin smiled. Hobbes was going to be around for a long time. 

Well, this is my first Calvin and Hobbes fic. Hope you liked it. I actually cried while writing this. It's not _too_ sad, is it? 

Disclaimer: I do not own Calvin and Hobbes and am not making money off this. I'm just a fan with his own perspective of what happened after the last strip of Calvin and Hobbes. 


	2. Life 2: Lost Souls

I looked around, where was I?   
I appeared in the middle of a forest. There was a path in the middle. It snaked through the undergrowth. I peered down as far as I could.   
I asked the question again, this time out loud, "Where am I?"   
I tried to remember what happened. It was night; I was up late, talking to Calvin. He was worried, because nobody else could see me. I told him that we'd talk in the morning, he was so sad. He was going to turn nine today.   
Where was Calvin? Where was I without Calvin? I was like Sancho Panza without my Don Quixote, I wasn't a loner, I was a part of a whole. Where on earth did I turn up, and what would I do without Calvin?   
I heard some rustling in back of me. I turned, and there was a little creature coming up the road.   
He was about as tall as Calvin was. He had patchy golden fur with brown spots. He traveled on all fours, despite the fact that his front legs were smaller than his back legs and was more equipped for sitting than walking. His head was most definitely feline, with worn whiskers and nose and black, happy eyes. He wore a worn red vest. He sauntered my way before stopping.   
"Oh," the creature said, "Hello. Nice to meet you. My name's Jaggy, what's yours?" He seemed nice enough. I knew I recognized that spot pattern. He was a jaguar, one of the tiger's wild cousins.   
"Hobbes," I said, proffering my hand. He took it, although his circular paw was no hand. "Where am I, and where's Calvin?" I had some hope that this visitor would have some knowledge that could help me.   
Jaggy drooped at that statement; "You have no idea where you are?" he seemed sad.   
"No, why?"   
He sighed, "Well, I hate to break the news to a new guy, but…you're dead."   
I tensed immediately.   
DEAD?!   
I couldn't believe it, I tried to say something to the jaguar creature, but no sound escaped my mouth.   
"This is an afterlife, I suppose, where the playmates of children go after they die," Jaggy explained.   
"But, how?"   
"Life is given to an imaginary friend when a child needs him. When that child has no need for that friend, when he stops believing in him, he dies."   
"But Calvin would never stop believing in me! He's too good of a friend!"   
"Yeah, I know, Ryan was the same…" the little creature began to cry.   
"Ryan?"   
"Ryan was the greatest friend I ever knew. He was my heart and soul. When he was sad, I comforted him, absorbed the cries till his eyes dried. He loved me so much. We had the greatest adventures. We'd have parties, we'd invent stuff… he was my better half. Was that the same with you?"   
I gaped. That was the same life I had with Calvin. I nodded weakly.   
"Yeah, it happens to the best of them. No kid keeps on believing. There's a point when they stop, when you're no longer there. We're some of the lucky ones."   
I stared at him, "What do you mean?"   
"You were a stuffed animal, weren't you? I can tell. I was too. A stuffed animal Ryan brought to life. We're lucky because, no matter what happens, we can always go back. Not even the most heartless kid willingly throws away the stuffed animal they brought to life.   
"There's a chance that, sometime in the near future, Ryan will find a need for me, and I'll go back to life. Until then, it's here to eternity."   
He stood up, "I'm going to start again. Want to join me? The path's much better with a friend alongside you and I've had it up to here with dollies, bunnies, and teddy bears. You're the only other feline I've seen in months."   
I nodded, "I don't know what to do, so I'll go with you until I find my own path."   


I never did find my own path. Jaggy and I became excellent friends, not good enough friends to replace the tear in our hearts, but we were good enough friends. We spent the hours talking about our human friends. I recounted the duplicator, he recounted an underground cave. I told him of Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man, he told me of Marvel Man and his "family." I told him of woodlands, he told me of beaches. Camping trips, Boy Scouts, mothers sewing the stitches in our fur. Then, another topic came up.   
"Jaggy," I said, "when was the last time you spent with Ryan? What happened before the spirit was drained, leaving you as nothing more than a stuffed animal?"   
He swallowed, "It was gradual. He was 11. He wasn't the greatest friend-maker, so I stayed with him longer than most animals would. At some point, he stopped hugging me before we went to bed. Then, he just forgot. We stopped playing, there was no interaction. Then, I don't know what night, I fell asleep, and I woke up here. I died and Ryan barely noticed." He sniffled. He was obviously in a lot of pain, so I recounted my story.   
"When I first met Calvin, he had no real friends. Human friends," I corrected, "And he was one of the most destructive brats I'd ever come across. After a while, his parents got worried, and arranged him to be in activities. After he started to make friends, he brought them over, and he started to doubt whether or not I was real, and if so, how come he was the only one who could see me. The last night we were together…"   


"Hobbes?"   
"Yes?" the tiger said.   
"Why doesn't anyone think you're real?" he asked his friend.   
"But I am real. Anyone can see me and touch me."   
"But they don't see you. Not really. And they can't hear you. To them, you're nothing but a stuffed animal. To them you're not alive."   
"But I am. You can see me for what I am. To you, I am alive. That makes me real."   
"No, it doesn't. They all say I'm crazy. They say you can't be alive. Maybe I shouldn't see you. Maybe there's something wrong with me."   
"No, Calvin, There's nothing wrong with you. You are what keeps me alive. I am here to help you and you are what keeps me here. If you don't want me here, I   
won't be here."   
"I should have seen it before. There is something wrong with me. You're not real."   
"Calvin…"   
"Stop talking. Go away. You're not real. You're not real."   
"We'll talk about this in the morning," with that Hobbes went to sleep.   


"The morning never came. The next day, I was here. Then I met you."   
"Well," my friend said, "Perhaps we should camp now. It's getting dark and with our spirits down, I don't think we'll get that far."   
We set up camp, meaning we sat down.   
I looked at Jaggy. It was funny that this little guy looked just like Calvin did. He was much shorter than I was, and those eyes contained a mischievous spark in them. Then, there was the shirt.   
"Jags," I said, "where'd you get that vest?"   
"Ryan found it in a toy chest. Belonged to a Winnie the Pooh doll. He gave it to me, 'cause it looked right," he sighed, "I sure do miss him."   
That's when it came to me.   
"Jags, what are we doing here?" I asked.   
"Well, at the present time, we're sitting beneath a tree, recounting stories and trying not to cry."   
"But, that's all we do. We walk, sit, tell stories, and try not to weep for our own deaths. But, what is the purpose of this place? Why are we journeying? And what do we have to do?"   
"Hobbes, I gave up trying to answer that question three years ago. And I've been here for five years. I haven't the slightest clue as to the purpose of journeying, but that is what we have to do. At some point, we will realize what the journeys here are for."   
"But, Jaggy, this is insane! How could this possibly benefit us or anyone?"   
"Let's just sleep on it Hobbes. I'm too tired to go verbalize an existential quandary that has plagued me for five years. We'll talk in the morning."   


The next morning, Jaggy was gone. There was no trace of him, as if he was never there.   
Then I realized…   
"We'll talk in the morning."   
The exact same words I told Calvin before I died.   
The words Jaggy told me last night.   
I lost the two most important people in my life.   
And each time, we were separated on bad terms.   


I journeyed alone for the longest time. I still had no idea why, but like Jaggy, I didn't give it much thought.   
I took a stop by a nearby river, I looked into it.   
On the other side I saw Calvin. I wondered what happened to him. What his life was like. I stopped tracking the days after I had been here ten years. Calvin was now, most likely, and adult.   
I then saw Jaggy. He was the same as he was the day he left, two years after I came.   
"Poor Jaggy," I said out loud, "what happened to you?"   
"The greatest thing ever, that's what!" the reflection stated.   
I screamed, and then looked back. Not a figment of my imagination, this was no doubt a real apparition.   
"Hey Hobbes. I just wanted to give you an ethereal message. Don't worry about me. I'm back with Ryan!"   
"What?" I was stunned.   
"Don't you remember what I said? We don't permanently die. We can always go back."   
"Ryan still believes in you?"   
"Yep, but not the same as before. Now, I'm more of a good luck charm. I'm Ryan's moral support. I was there when he graduated high school, and later college. Entrance exams, SATs, the whole works. Puberty already passed, thank God. That's part of the block on believing. I'm still there, but it's like I'm always sleeping."   
"Is that good or bad?"   
"Good. Now, I don't have to feel Ryan's pain from your side."   
"Care to run that by me again?"   
"It's like this, Hobbes. Your journey is Calvin's journey through life. You're shouldering the burdens he shoulders. Although you may no longer be together, you will be in spirit."   
I smiled, for the first time in ages.   
"Oh, and I found info on Calvin. Ryan's a veterinarian for a local zoo and Calvin's an architect doing an addition to several of their buildings. He's twenty three, married to a woman called Susan Derkins, no kids. His parents are getting their house demolished soon. I don't know where you are. His file doesn't cover stuffed tigers."   
With that, Jaggy's image vanished, leaving Hobbes' forlorn expression.   


"'Not even the most heartless of kids will throw away their favorite stuffed animal.' Bull, Calvin's house is being destroyed and I'm inside it, no doubt. My body will be burned to the ground and I'll never go back. I'll just be a roaming wander lost tiger with nowhere to go. Nothing left for me," I went to sleep, trying to put back the thoughts and focus on nothing. There was no chance now. No hope.   


In the living room of a house, a blond man was holding a stuffed tiger, and weeping.   
"Why?" he asked, "why did I leave you behind? Why didn't I keep you around? Why did you die?"   
"Because you killed me."   
Calvin jerked his head up. Hobbes was standing right in front of him.   
"Hobbes!" Calvin cried.   
The lost soul now found its way. 

***Ryan's Note*** 

If you haven't guessed, Jaggy is my real life stuffed animal. I originally had no intentions to write a sequel to Life, but this came to me in a flash. I got the idea for Life in the same way, so I followed my intuition. Jaggy died when I was 11 and came back to me when I was fifteen, after I wrote Life. This story is dedicated to all who have lost a stuffed animal in the same way. I hope they come back to you. 


End file.
